Under the Rain
by Kitsune Triforce
Summary: During TP. When a thunder storm puts a halt on Link and Midna’s journey, the two seek shelter under some rocks. When Link notices that Midna is acting strangely, it leads to a confession of a fear that brings the two of them closer together.


**A/N:** Just a little one-shot. Written as part of the "100 Themes" thing that seems to be really popular on Deviant Art lately. Anyways, Link/Midna fluff. Yay! Enjoy.

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IT WAS A CLOUDY DAY IN HYRULE. The sky was a gloomy, overcast gray that caused everything in the land to lose its color, fading everything out into grayer, less vibrant versions of themselves. A cool breeze rustled the grass as a few scattered raindrops hit the ground.

Then, without warning, the sky exploded.

Rain began to pour down relentlessly from the now black sky; the once gently breeze had turned into a gale that drove the rain hard onto the ground, rocks, trees, and everything else that was caught in the open. A flash of white lightning streaked through the darkened sky, briefly illuminating a tall figure that was running like mad for shelter.

Link held his arms in front of his face, attempting to shield himself from the rain the pelted against him as he ran. His boots splashed through the mud puddles that had already formed as a result of the downpour. Another flash of lightning illuminated Hyrule field; Link could just barely make out the silhouette of a tall group of rocks that had a shall depression in the front. Perfect! Just a little further…

Panting with exhaustion, Link collapsed in the rock depression as soon as he reached it. He pulled off his shield and sword and set them to one side in the shallow cave. Link then took off his hat and wrung it out. He held it out and looked at it. It was still wet. With a sigh, Link placed it back on his head.

Suddenly, Midna popped out of his shadow. "Link, what are we stopping here for?"

The young Hylain warrior gestured out at the storm. "That's why, Midna. We're not traveling in that mess."

Midna folded her arms and glanced outside. A loud, rumbling clap of thunder was heard. She quickly turned back to face Link. "Castle Town isn't that far away! Let's go there and shelter in one of the shops."

Link shook his head. "If we go out there, one of us could be struck by lightning. We're staying here, where it's safe." He leaned back against the wall. "Do you still have that cloak we used in Snowpeak? It's kind of chilly with all this rain."

"Sure…" Midna said, pulling out the dark gray cloak and handing it to Link. Lightning flashed again, and more thunder sounded, much closer this time. Midna gave a nervous glance outside. "Are you sure you don't want to go to Castle Town? We could warp there."

"Positive." Link noticed that Midna kept giving the storm outside nervous glances. "You alright?"

Taking off her helmet, Midna sat down on the ground next to him, hugging her knees, eyes closed. "I'm fine. Let's just wait for the storm to pass, okay?"

"Alright," Link finished adjusting the cloak around himself and turned his gaze outside. As yet another bolt of lightning lit up the sky, he began counting in his head. When he was little, Rusl had told him that you could figure out how close the lightning was if you counted the seconds in between the time you saw the flash and the time you heard the thunder. The few seconds in between the two, the closer it was. He barely got to six when thunder sounded. It was very close.

A movement in the corner of his eye brought his attention back to Midna. The little imp had moved closer to him. Her eyes were still closed and she was shaking. "Midna, are you sure you're okay?"

Midna gave a small smile. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, that's…"

An extremely loud clap of thunder interrupted her. Midna gave a little yelp and scooted closer to Link's side. Link looked at her in shock.

"Midna…you're scared of the storm, aren't you?"

Midna didn't respond for a moment, but then she nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Midna looked away. "I didn't want you to worry about me."

Link regarded her for a moment, then reached out and took her hand in his. Midna looked at him, surprised. He met her gaze, concern showing in his blue eyes. Midna bit her lip. So much for keeping him from worrying about her.

Link spoke again. "Why?"

Midna looked away again. "It happened when Zant through me into the light world. When you were carrying me to see Princess Zelda. It was storming then, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, it was," Link said softly. 'But what did that have to do with it?' He wondered.

"I was already in bad condition…the rain felt like it was burning my skin, the lighting felt like it was blinding me, and the thunder…" Midna paused, shuddering. "It was so loud, it deafened me at some points; it made my ears throb and seemed to cause pain to shoot through my entire body. I guess…that…coupled with the fact that I thought I was going to die…was what caused it. Now, every time it storms…it feels like I'm dying again."

"Midna…I…" Link didn't know what to say. He lifted his right arm up, pulling the cloak so it was around Midna too. Midna did not fail to notice this small attempt at comfort, and accepted it by scooting closer to Link's side.

Lightning flashed again, followed almost instantaneously by thunder. Midna pressed against Link, trembling. Link looked at her, wishing he knew of something to say or do that would help take her mind off of the storm. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"You know what Rusl told me thunder storms were when I was little, so I wouldn't be afraid of them?" He asked Midna.

Midna looked up at him. "N…no…what?"

"He told me that they're when the gods go bowling," Link told her, his face serious.

Midna looked at him blankly. "What's bowling?"

"It's this game where you take five or nine bottles and try to knock them all down with a ball," Link explained.

Midna thought for a moment. "Sounds like a boring game to me."

"It's not. It's really fun."

"Sounds too easy," Midna said, nervously pressing against Link's side as thunder sounded outside. "How hard can it be to knock over all the bottles at once?"

"Harder than you'd think," Link said. "You have to line up the ball just right, and not roll it too hard…"

"You'll have to teach me how to play it sometime," Midna said with a small smile.

"Sure thing," Link replied, glad to see that Midna was relaxing a little bit.

"So…thunder storms are gods bowling, huh?" Midna asked thoughtfully.

"Yep."

"They're a little too loud if you ask me. Can you tell them to tone it down?" Midna gave a nervous laugh. "Please?"

"'Course," Link said with a grin. He turned so that he was facing the storm-swept field, and raised a fist at the sky. "Hey, gods! This is the Chosen Hero of Hyrule. Could you tone down your bowling game a bit? It's bothering my friend. Okay? Thanks." Thunder rumbled in response. He turned to face Midna with a shrug. "I don't think they heard me."

Midna giggled, though she was still a little afraid of the storm outside. "That's okay. I'll be fine as long as you stay here with me."

Link squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I wouldn't leave you, Midna."

How long they sat there, waiting for the storm to let up, neither of them knew. Link was the first to notice the absence of the thunder and lightning, the slackening of the rain to a slight drizzle, and the clouds slowly drifting apart to reveal stars.

He gently shook Midna's shoulder. "The storm is over. Look, you can see the stars."

Midna sat up, rubbing her eyes. She had dozed off. She looked outside. "It's still raining, though."

"But it's not storming," Link replied, still gazing up at the stars.

"Good," Midna said. She looked up at the sky. "You know, Link, in the Twilight Realm, we don't have stars."

Link looked at her. "What do you think of them?"

"I think they're beautiful."

Link smiled, and turned to face the sky again. "Some of them form pictures. Like those three, right there. See them?"

"Yeah…"

"That's the Triforce constellation. A constellation is a group of stars that form a picture. Do you see it?"

Midna tilted her head to one side. "Yes…hey, that's pretty neat. Do those three bright ones over there form a picture?" She asked, pointing at a row of three stars.

Link followed her gaze. "Those three…well, with the stars around them, they form the Gustaf constellation."

"Who was Gustaf?"

"He was the first warrior of Hyrule, and its first king," Link explained. "They say tiny creatures called the Picori gave him a magic sword to defeat evil."

Midna looked at the constellation. "You know who I think that constellation looks like?"

"Who?" Link asked curiously.

"You."

Link looked at Midna, surprised, and found her looking back at him, her expression serious. Link glanced away nervously. "Um…thanks."

Midna smiled but didn't day anything.

"You want to head back out now?" Link questioned.

Midna shook her head. "It's still raining. Let's stay here tonight and travel in the morning."

Link nodded. "Okay. I'd rather be under these rocks than under the rain."

Midna giggled. "Me, too."

Link pushed his shield and sword further back into the small cave; Midna did likewise with her helmet. Link spread the cloak out on the ground. Midna produced a blanket from her storage space, and handed it to Link. He sat down and spread the blanket out, laying down under it. He felt Midna snuggle into his side.

"Goodnight, Midna."

"'Night, Link."

It was silent for a moment. Then, just as Link thought Midna had fallen asleep, a small voice spoke up again.

"Link?"

"Yeah?"

"…Thanks."

"You're welcome, Midna."

'I'll never be afraid of storms ever again,' Midna thought as she settled down to sleep with a small smile on her face.

As the two friends slept, the clouds and rain faded slowly away, until they disappeared completely, taking Midna's fears with them.


End file.
